The 1991–92 Charlotte Hornets season was the fourth season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season The Hornets won the NBA draft lottery, and selected power forward Larry Johnson from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with the first overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Anthony Frederick and hired Allan Bristow as their new head coach.
Regular season Under Bristow and with the addition of Johnson, the Hornets struggled losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season, and later on held a 14–33 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Rex Chapman to the Washington Bullets in exchange for Tom Hammonds; however, Hammonds was out due to a season-ending groin injury he sustained with the Bullets. The Hornets won 9 of their 13 games in February, while posting a five-game winning streak between February and March, but lost seven of their final eight games of the season, finishing tied in last place in the Central Division with a 31–51 record, which was a five-game improvement over the previous season.
Second-year star Kendall Gill averaged 20.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while Johnson averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, sixth man Dell Curry provided the team with 15.7 points per game off the bench, while Johnny Newman contributed 15.3 points per game, but only played 55 games due to injury, and Kenny Gattison averaged 12.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, J.R. Reid provided with 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, but only played 51 games also due to injury, Muggsy Bogues contributed 8.9 points, 9.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and Frederick averaged 5.9 points per game. Mike Gminski provided with 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, but only appeared in just 35 games due to injury, and rookie shooting guard, and second-round draft pick Kevin Lynch contributed 4.1 points per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Johnson participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, while Curry participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Gill finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Hornets led the NBA in home-game attendance for the third time in four seasons, which an attendance of 971,618 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Frederick was released to free agency.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 1 Larry Johnson PF UNLV 2 28 Kevin Lynch SG Minnesota
Roster
Roster notes Power forward Tom Hammonds was acquired by the Hornets from the Washington Bullets in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list due to a groin injury he sustained with the Bullets, and did not play with the Hornets this season.
Regular season
Season standings
z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerPF82 77 3,047 899 292 81 51 1,576 37.2 11.0 3.6 1.0 .6 19.2PF82 71 2,223 580 131 59 69 1,042 27.1 7.1 1.6 .7 .8 12.7PG82 69 2,790 235 743 170 6 730 34.0 2.9 9.1 2.1 .1 8.9SG 79 79 2,906 402 329 154 46 1,622 36.8 5.1 4.2 1.9 .6 20.5SG 77 0 2,020 259 177 93 20 1,209 26.2 3.4 2.3 1.2 .3 15.7SF 66 26 852 144 71 40 26 389 12.9 2.2 1.1 .6 .4 5.9C 59 2 716 206 31 9 18 196 12.1 3.5 .5 .2 .3 3.3SF 55 55 1,651 179 146 70 14 839 30.0 3.3 2.7 1.3 .3 15.3SG 55 3 819 85 83 37 9 224 14.9 1.5 1.5 .7 .2 4.1C 51 7 1,257 317 81 49 23 560 24.6 6.2 1.6 1.0 .5 11.0†PG 40 0 371 32 64 25 2 113 9.3 .8 1.6 .6 .1 2.8C 35 10 499 118 31 11 16 202 14.3 3.4 .9 .3 .5 5.8†PG 21 11 545 54 86 14 8 260 26.0 2.6 4.1 .7 .4 12.4†PG 13 0 57 4 18 8 0 1 4.4 .3 1.4 .6 .0 .1PF 3 0 25 11 1 1 1 10 8.3 3.7 .3 .3 .3 3.3†PF 3 0 13 4 0 1 0 1 4.3 1.3 .0 .3 .0 .3†SF 2 0 13 2 0 0 0 6 6.5 1.0 .0 .0 .0 3.0PG 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Awards and records Larry Johnson, NBA Rookie of the Year Award Larry Johnson, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
Transactions July 15, 1991
Waived Randolph Keys. September 4, 1991
Signed Anthony Frederick as a free agent. October 10, 1991
Signed Scott Haffner as a free agent. October 11, 1991
Waived Scott Haffner. October 31, 1991
Claimed Greg Grant on waivers from the Indiana Pacers. November 5, 1991
Waived Kevin Lynch. December 9, 1991
Signed Elliot Perry as a free agent.
Waived Greg Grant. December 11, 1991
Signed Tony Massenburg as a free agent. December 30, 1991
Signed Ron Grandison as a free agent. January 1, 1992
Signed Ron Grandison to the first of two 10-day contracts. January 2, 1992
Released Michael Ansley. January 7, 1992
Waived Ron Grandison.
Waived Tony Massenburg. January 10, 1992
Signed Michael Ansley to a 10-day contract. February 15, 1992
Signed Cedric Hunter to a 10-day contract. February 19, 1992
Traded Rex Chapman to the Washington Bullets for Tom Hammonds. February 20, 1992
Waived Cedric Hunter.
References